Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
significantly higher in 2 nd year, among mature students and within
the Intellectual Disability branches. These findings are important
considering the lack of other studies similarly comparing stress
among the different branches of training, as well as exploring the
impact of undertaking training as a mature student.
Although the key stressors noted among 2 nd year students were
similar to 1 st year students, it is important to consider if ‘specialist’
clinical placements (e.g. theatre, emergency department) impacted
on stress levels. Students usually commence their specialist
placements in 2 nd year, therefore it is recommended that these
clinical placements are also examined to determine if students
experience increased stress in specialist areas, as ‘relations with
staff in the clinical area’ was statistically significant in 2 nd year of
training (p = .000).
‘Problem-focused’ coping was the most common coping strategy
sourced which included ‘asked someone you respected for advice
and followed it’ and ‘came up with a couple of different of solutions
to the problem’. The coping strategies used must be appropriate
where support structures are accessible to empower students to
effectively cope with unavoidable stress (Lee & Kirkland, 1998). This
is of particular relevance to the new course structure in the Irish
context, where curriculum developers and educators play a pivotal
role in establishing support networks. A student counseling service
was available in the university for all students in this study,
however it is not known whether accessed this facility, which is an
area that needs to be explored further. The implications of these
findings have an impact on academic staff, including the role of the
personal tutor, link lecturer, to draw on their resources to provide
optimal support to students. Equally, it is important that the role of
support staff is also explored regarding the student’s expectations
of these roles, and indeed whether students access the support
services available to them.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the findings of this study provide a unique
contribution to the understanding of stress and coping strategies
employed by BSc. undergraduate nursing students in the Irish
context. The level of stress was identified to increase as training
progressed; in particular the student’s perceived stress in relation to
‘academic load’, which has implications for nursing education. Due
to the new course structure in Ireland, curriculum developers and
nurse educators have a pivotal role in developing strategies to
minimise stress thus preventing ‘burnout’ among students. Clinical
practitioners equally have a collaborative role in supporting
students, where stress can be minimised in the clinical environment
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